MEDIA NOTES

TV: Fox's Monday night boxing card got a 4.3/6 national
rating, while the Academy Awards broadcast on ABC averaged a
34.9/55 (John Carmody, WASHINGTON POST, 3/25)....Fox
VP/Media Relations Lou D'Ermilio told the L.A. TIMES that
the network expects to have the FoxTrax glowing puck back by
the playoffs (L.A. TIMES, 3/24)....CBS Sports will air "The
Great Skate Debate" Friday night at 9:00pm ET. The live
figure skating competition will be judged by the live
audience and home viewers, who will vote via the Internet
(N.Y. TIMES, 3/25)....CBS's first NFL telecast since '94
will be the 49ers-Seahawks American Bowl game in Vancouver
on August 15 (USA TODAY, 3/25)....MEDIAWEEK's Langdon
Brockinton reports that the Ravens are "looking to create" a
half-hour weekly kids show. Ravens VP/Sales & Marketing
David Cope said that talks "are underway" with Baltimore
stations on the show, which would air on Saturday or Sunday
mornings this fall. The team wants a time-buy where it
would sell the ad inventory (MEDIAWEEK, 3/23 issue).
MARCH MADNESS: Although CBS is experiencing its highest
ratings for the men's NCAA tournament in four years,
basketball analyst Billy Packer says, "The ratings are so
ridiculous. Name me any other event that has such a
following. You cannot go anywhere in America where people
aren't involved in the tournament." Packer, on statements
he made regarding "60 Minutes" and its stories on college
basketball: "I haven't heard from anyone in [CBS]. ... I may
be full of it on this, but somebody has to explain to me how
somebody in our organization can go out to hurt our
relationship with the NCAA, which was most critical to us
until the NFL deal" (Rudy Martzke, USA TODAY, 3/25)....In
DC, Tony Kornheiser wrote on the NCAA tournament: "You can
keep the NBA. ... Give me this tournament." He adds, "It's
gratifying to know TV ratings are up. It means the American
public has some sense about sports and the compelling
theater of this tournament" (WASHINGTON POST, 3/24).
...Finalfour.net, the official site of the NCAA men's and
women's tournaments, has had 7 million visits so far. The
site, produced by Total College Sports Network, has set a
record for online traffic, recording 92,145,116 hits and
36,859,597 page views. Last year's tournament site got 34
million hits for the entire tournament (TCSN).
GIVE ME LIBERTY, OR? In N.Y., Steve Zipay reported that
MSG is negotiating with WJWR-AM, One-on-One Sports, to carry
Liberty and MetroStars games (Steve Zipay, NEWSDAY 3/24).